How to hack JK foglights to work in a KJ

[Christine_S]

I had a cracked foglight and thought I'd take the opportunity for an upgrade to LED foglights. I mistakenly thought that JK lights I picked out on eBay would be a direct fit and picked out a foglight that had the halo ring and nice LED foglights. Clearly, if you compare those lights and the housing they come in to what we have in the '05 Sport, this was not going to be a direct fit! But, a hose clamp and some pipe hanger strap bits later, they were installed very nicely using the original mounting bracket and adjusting screws. Tapping into the marker lights and turn signals right next to the fog lights allowed for these new lights to use the white halo whenever the parking or headlights are on, the amber ring to flash with the turn signals, and of course, the center LED foglights light when you turn on the foglight switch. Very cool! I love the installation and the functionality.

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[klc]

Nice hack. How do they compare to the stock lights at night? I use my driving lights a lot during the rainy season.

 

[Christine_S]

Thanks! The foglights are nice and bright, but most importantly it's a light that spreads wide (you can see to each side of the car in front) and stays low, close to the front of the car.

Here are some photos of the lights on. The blinking turn signal is an animated GIF, so the timing is a little weird but it looks normal in person.

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[tommudd]

Did this several months ago to my 05
Simple and took all of 10-12 minutes
didn't do those halo things though I leave those to the little cars

 

[Johnny O]

This reminds me…anyone know a source for incandescent amber fogs in either size? LEDs no good for my application- too bright.

 

[Ohio-white-kj]

Maybe I'm blind, or dumb but what does the hose clamp clamp to? Also are they still aimable?

 

[Christine_S]

Sorry, I didn't take the greatest photos. The hose clamp is holding on a metal piece that attaches to the stock adjuster. Where the old lights had a plastic thing that extended from the top of the light to attach to the adjuster, these lights came out of a different kind of assembly and are just smooth & round. So, yes, they are now aimable using the original adjusting assembly.

 

[Ohio-white-kj]

Sorry, I didn't take the greatest photos. The hose clamp is holding on a metal piece that attaches to the stock adjuster. Where the old lights had a plastic thing that extended from the top of the light to attach to the adjuster, these lights came out of a different kind of assembly and are just smooth & round. So, yes, they are now aimable using the original adjusting assembly.

OK - maybe I understand. I've had the stock ones in and out and replaced as well so familiar with the setup.

 

[tommudd]

Ill have to tear mine back apart someday and take a pic of how I mounted them
I'm old school , I do things and never do pictures , take videos or anything , I just do it

 

[Johnny O]

Ill have to tear mine back apart someday and take a pic of how I mounted them
I'm old school , I do things and never do pictures , take videos or anything , I just do it

Photos to share are the only thing to remind me to slow down and think about what I’ve done…and to help me troubleshoot when I scre.w.Ed things up!

 

[tommudd]

If I had to stop and take pictures it would throw me off and more than likely forget something
I have one speed that keeps me going
A few on here have seen and helped and know how it works with me when doing a lift or anything else

profdlp has experienced it LOL​

Plus I've never looked at pictures or videos of doing anything to help me out

 

[Johnny O]

If I had to stop and take pictures it would throw me off and more than likely forget something
I have one speed that keeps me going
A few on here have seen and helped and know how it works with me when doing a lift or anything else

profdlp has experienced it LOL​

Plus I've never looked at pictures or videos of doing anything to help me out

I tend to get really sped up when I’m in focus mode and make errors.

 

[Christine_S]

Well, I started the job but my husband finished it. So, the pictures became my contribution as it was coming together! But, I know how it goes, when I get into doing something I never think to take pictures. A lot of times I end up with a "before", a "first steps", and then an "after" and the really interesting bits get left out because I forgot to document it. Sometimes I forgot how I did something (I think that's part of the trance-like state) and so I'm trying to get better at taking the photos.

Through the years these forums have helped me so much with my projects on my Jeeps, Audi, and Mercedes, that I feel like I want to pay it back to everyone who has posted pictures, links, and videos to help me do stuff. Thank you, all!

 

[tommudd]

You're doing good

 

[Runion]

I have been through 2 different re-creations for the driving lights.
The first was a bottom mounted light, no side or top attachments.
I used a firm wire to form the side attachments that the OEM lights had to attach to the side holes, and a finger on top for the adjuster. Worked better than the life of the lamps, lol had a strong light but for some reason, the life was very short.
Second attempt, the light came with a center rear mount, basically a hollow tube with threads, the wires come out of this tube and the heat sink screws on the tube threads and tightens onto a nice mounting bracket that you happily create. Hey, I did not like the OEM lights so anything goes, right?
so I created a 3 point bracket, the light mounted through a hole in the proper location, the sides would slip the fingers into the side holes/mounts, and a finger on top went into the adjuster.
These are LED, with one of those glass lenses, puts out a bright beam forward.
Lets me see whats ahead and the bright white light, (as bright as the blinding OEM headlights today) lets oncoming traffic be aware that i am approaching.
I'd estimate it took all of an hour to create both brackets and install. Aiming usually takes me a day or two because i have a set pattern that I want from them.
If I have to go to my third attempt, I want to go brighter beams.

as for installing lights in the driving light location, mine are in the grill, 2005 model. The OEM mounting is pretty easy to work with. The only problem that could come up is there is not a lot of depth for the light to take so kind of have to watch that because I don't want to do any cutting.
Yeah, those OEM lights are pretty bogus.

My only warning about those quick Clips you used to tap into the parking lights is DON'T!
They used those when they installed my cruise control in another car. That junk eventually worked its way through the wire and cut it.
The only way I knew there was a problem was in Chicago at a stop light this woman comes running up to my car yelling she almost hit me because I had no brake lights. I didn't know what the heck was going on so when I got home I checked it out and sure enough, no brake lights. I found the cut wire under the dash.
Take that **** off your wires and solder them and repair the area that the clips cut into.
Don't use that junk, esp on real important wiring.

 

[profdlp]

If I had to stop and take pictures it would throw me off and more than likely forget something
I have one speed that keeps me going
A few on here have seen and helped and know how it works with me when doing a lift or anything else

profdlp has experienced it LOL​

Plus I've never looked at pictures or videos of doing anything to help me out

I was supposed to do the lift with you and 2bobs telling me what to do. As I recall, I may have handed you guys a couple parts here and there.

Mac helped a lot, especially when it took all three of you hanging on my spare tire to get me clear of the garage door when backing out. Went in nice and easy but somehow got a lot taller while it was in there.

 

[tommudd]

I was supposed to do the lift with you and 2bobs telling me what to do. As I recall, I may have handed you guys a couple parts here and there.

Mac helped a lot, especially when it took all three of you hanging on my spare tire to get me clear of the garage door when backing out. Went in nice and easy but somehow got a lot taller while it was in there.

Well you and Bob were talking about kicking rocks or something, did not want to bug ya ! LOL
By the way ever hear from him anymore
Like to know how he is doing

 

[profdlp]

I haven't heard from him in some time now. I kept in touch for a while. Good guy, and I wish he still had his KJ so he'd be around.